


A Disturbed Night

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 14:11:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4482269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The phone keeps ringing during the night...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Disturbed Night

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sentinel Thursday prompt ring.
> 
> This is set fairly early second season, before Spare Parts.

A Disturbed Night

by Bluewolf

The strident ringing of the telephone woke Jim from an uneasy slumber. He reached for the phone.

"Ellison."

There was a split second of silence, then a woman's voice. "Sorry - I seem to have dialed a wrong number." The caller rang off.

"Idiot!" Jim muttered, before wondering if in fact the caller had dialed the right number and wanted Blair. Though if she had, surely she would have asked for Blair. Though the middle of the night was the oddest time for anyone to phone Blair. Jim, possibly, if something serious had happened requiring the immediate attention of a detective, but not Blair...

Not that asking for Blair would have done her any good; Blair was away for a month, one of two TAs called on by Rainier to assist Professor Hunter on a 'short' trip with twenty students into the Amazon jungle, its aim being to give the students experience of what an expedition would entail. Refusal to join Hunter was not an option - not if the selected TAs wanted to keep their teaching jobs.

Jim lay down again. Blair had only been away for three days, and Jim was not reacting well to his absence. The solitude, the relaxation of having the loft to himself that he had happily embraced when Carolyn walked out, this time did not appeal. Three days - only three days - and Jim was desperately lonely and far from relaxed.

How would he possibly survive another twenty-seven miserable days?

Resolutely, he closed his eyes.

He had never had any real difficulty in falling asleep - until now. His years in the army had seen to that. 'Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, and sleep every chance you get.' Well, he was lying down... but sleep was proving more than elusive.

*RING*

Jim grabbed the phone again. "Ellison."

"Oh!" It was the same voice. "I'm sorry - I was certain I'd dialed the number I was given - "

"You looking for Blair Sandburg?"

"Yes."

"He's in South America this month."

"Oh. You house sitting for him?"

"No, he's renting my spare room." Officially. Unofficially, Jim had never asked for any money from Blair.

"That doesn't sound like my Blair. Too independent for his own good, really - he's lived in some of the oddest places, but always lived on his own."

"His last place was destroyed in a fire, and I let him have my spare room for a week - but we discovered we got on well living together, so he never left."

"Oh. I know he's sociable, but sharing a house with someone else... "

"Anyway, he won't be back for nearly four weeks. Can I tell him who called, get him to phone you when he gets back?"

"If you can tell him Naomi called, and that I'll be in Nepal for the next three months and completely out of touch."

"Naomi, in Nepal for three months. Will do."

"Thanks." She hung up.

Jim put the phone down. He thought he knew all of Blair's female acquaintances, but 'Naomi' was a new name... but obviously someone Blair knew well enough for her to tell him she was going to Nepal... though in that case why hadn't Blair told her he was going to South America?

And why had she phoned in the middle of the night?

He lay down again.

He was just falling asleep when -

*RING*

He reached for the phone. If this was Naomi again...

"Ellison."

"Hey, Jim. Sorry, I know I've wakened you, but - "

"Blair?" He was suddenly wide awake.

"Yes, Blair. I haven't been able to phone till now. My plane gets in to Cascade at 7:15 - can you come and pick me up?"

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you when I see you." There was a note in his voice that said, 'Long story'.

"7:15 at the airport. Right, I'll be there."

"Thanks." They hung up.

Back already? What could possibly have gone wrong? But oh, it was so good to hear Blair's voice!

***

Jim reached the airport early, and waited impatiently, watching the 'arrivals' board. The 7:15 plane was on time; landing; a few minutes later a group of young people appeared, and Jim recognized Blair and his fellow TA, Heather Jones, escorting them. Several of the other people waiting got to their feet and moved towards the group. Jim waited, knowing that the two TAs had a responsibility to the students... but where was Professor Hunter?

The group dispersed, students disappearing with parents, until only Blair and Heather were left. They exchanged a few words, then she headed for the exit, and Blair moved towards where Jim was waiting.

"Hi, Jim. Thanks."

"So what happened? Where...?"

"Professor Hunter? He was supposed to be joining us in Manaus. Or, rather, we were supposed to be joining him - he was taking an earlier flight. He never showed."

They had reached the truck, and Blair fell silent as they got in and Jim headed for the exit.

"I did know what hotel we were supposed to spend the night in," Blair went on. "Phoned it - they hadn't seen him. So then I phoned Rainier. They said they'd get back to to me, but meanwhile, go to the hotel, let Rainier know if he turned up. So we did. Paying the cab fares took most of our cash - we didn't have much. Well, what were we going to buy in the jungle?

"Rainier eventually got back to me, roughly twenty-four hours later. It had taken them that long to track him down, and I'm not sure how they did it. Maybe trying the police was a last resort kind of thing. He was - is - lying unconscious in Cascade General."

"What... ?"

"That bus that went off the road, the day before I left?"

"Turned out the driver had a stroke, lost control."

"Ah, that was why. Anyway. The professor was one of the pedestrians it hit. Knocked unconscious - bad head injury. The police got his name and address from his wallet, but although they checked the address, they got no answer. Put a note in the mailbox. Actually, though, he lives alone, and there was nothing in the wallet to indicate where he worked. So there he was, lying unconscious in the hospital, with everyone thinking that he was en route to Manaus.

"All the papers concerning the trip, the permission to visit a couple of tribes and so on, are, presumably, in his house. The only thing that wasn't was the plane tickets - he'd given everyone their own. If he hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to leave Cascade in the first place. As it was, there we were in Manaus but couldn't get any further.

"Anyway, Rainier contacted the hotel direct to arrange payment for our stay there, and the airport to change our tickets, which let us fly straight back - but that didn't allow for any of us to use a phone at the hotel to let our families know we were coming back. We changed planes in LA and had to wait until then before we could call home.

"So here I am. Sorry you're not getting that month to yourself after all."

"You know what, Chief? I'm not sorry. Next time you have to go on a trip like this one was supposed to be, I'll go with you at my own expense. I wasn't enjoying being on my own."

"Oh."

"And before I forget - someone called Naomi phoned, said she'd be in Nepal and out of contact for three months. Though why she had to phone in the middle of the night... "

"She was probably already half-way there, in Europe or Australia, and forgot the time differential."

Jim nodded acceptance of that. It seemed a likely answer. "So who is she?"

Blair chuckled. "She's my Mom. Half the time I don't know where she is. Wonder why she decided to let me know this time?"

"How should I know? She did seem surprised that you had a housemate."

"Mmm. I... had a bad experience with one when I was seventeen. Several of my things and some money went missing over a couple of months. He claimed that he was losing stuff too, had no idea who was responsible, but I arrived home early one day and he was in my room, going through my things... It took me ten minutes to pack and get the hell out - his was the name on the lease. It made me wary of sharing with anyone. But you're a cop; I knew you wouldn't try to steal from me."

"Did you report him?"

"My word against his. I couldn't deny he'd told me he was losing stuff too and all he needed to say was he was checking my room to make sure I wasn't the one taking the things."

Jim pulled up outside the loft. "It's not too late to check up on him... "

"Nah, let it go. I'm fine now. Great housemate. Mightn't readily trust anyone else, but I do trust the one I have now."

Jim grinned and grabbed Blair's bag.

They went up the stairs and into the loft. Jim put the bag in Blair's room and went back to the kitchen, where Blair was already preparing coffee.

"I wasn't looking forward to my day off," Jim said, "but now - "

*RING*

With a sigh, he picked up the phone. "Ellison."

It was Simon.

"Sorry to call you in on your day off, Jim, but there's a murder scene I need you to check... "


End file.
